Honmen hazard illustration questions: how to read the scene and earn all 2 points

Updated 8 October 2026

The last 5 questions of the Honmen test are nothing like the 90 true/false questions: each one is a picture seen from the driver’s seat, a sentence describing the situation and 3 statements about how to drive. You must judge all three correctly to earn 2 points. Many learners find this the hardest type of question, but it responds well to a fixed method.

5illustration questions in every Honmen exam
3statements each; all three must be right
107hazard scenes in ViMai Menkyo

What an illustration question contains

Each question has three parts. First, a picture, usually from the driver’s position. Second, a sentence about the situation, such as the speed you are travelling and what matters on the road. Third, three statements, each a way of driving together with a reason, which you judge true or false one by one. All three right earns 2 points; one wrong loses both. The full scoring maths is on how the tests are scored.

One easy thing to forget: Japan drives on the left and the driver sits on the right. Oncoming cars, right-turning cars and parked vehicles are all seen from that seat.

A 5-step method for reading the scene

Read the speed and conditions. 30 km/h, 40 km/h or 60 km/h, day or night, rain or dry. These details change the answer.
Find what is hidden. Behind a bus, behind a parked truck, behind a queue of stopped cars, in a bend, at the foot of a slope. Danger usually sits exactly where you cannot see.
Predict what others will do. A child may run out, an oncoming car may turn right across you, a cyclist may swing out into the road.
Apply the specific rule. Someone crossing at a crosswalk means you stop and give way. An ambulance approaching means you keep left. The rule beats a feeling of safety.
Choose the most careful driving the law allows. Slow down, keep a gap, be ready to stop. A statement that speeds up to get through first, or that trusts the other person to give way, is very often false.

Three examples from scenes in the app

A bus stopped at a bus stop

You are driving at 30 km/h. Ahead on the left a bus is stopped with its hazard lights on, blocking almost all of your lane; an elderly person is on the sidewalk and a car is coming the other way. The statement "move into the right-hand side and pass at once, before the oncoming car gets close" is false. "Slow down because people getting off may cross in front of the bus" is true. "Let the oncoming car go first, then pass the bus with a wide side gap" is also true. The lesson: a stopped bus both hides people and is an obstacle on your side of the road.

The light has just turned green, but the road is not clear

You are first at the stop line and the light has just turned green, but a cyclist is still on the crossing right in front of you and a car sits on the crossing road to your right. Green means you may go, not that you must. Check for people and vehicles that have not cleared before you pull away.

Night, a bend, dark clothes

You are driving at 60 km/h on low beam towards a right-hand bend and a person in dark clothes is walking at the road edge. Low beam lights only about 40 m, while at 60 km/h you need about 44 m to stop, and in a bend the beam points off the road. The right choice is to slow down before the bend.

Practise hazard scenes in the same three-statement format as the Honmen test.

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False statements to watch for

"Speed up to get through first." Almost always false when there are people, oncoming cars or hidden areas.
"They will surely stop or give way." The rules expect you to be ready for the case where they do not.
"Sound the horn as a warning." The horn is for places where a sign requires it or for avoiding danger, not a routine warning.
"The light is green, so just go." Green is permission, not an order.
"Nobody is there, so go fast." The danger is often what you cannot see yet.

True statements tend to talk about slowing down, keeping a gap, stopping before the line and watching both sides. But do not guess by wording: a very cautious-sounding statement can still be false if it breaks a rule, such as allowing you to overtake where overtaking is banned.

Practise the scenes with ViMai Menkyo

ViMai Menkyo has 107 original hazard scenes covering situations such as buses stopped at stops, pedestrians and children, intersections, night driving, rain and emergency vehicles. Each scene has exactly 3 statements and a one-line key point that sums up the lesson. In the 20 Honmen exams, every exam has 5 scenes from different situations and no scene is reused between exams. How the exams are built is covered on Japan driving mock tests.

A practice tip: read the key point after every scene, even when you answered correctly. The scene will come back in a different shape, but the principle stays the same. Learn the principle, not the picture. See also tricky test questions.

Frequently asked questions

How many illustration questions are in a Honmen exam?

Each Honmen exam has 5 hazard illustration questions worth 2 points each, plus 90 true/false questions worth 1 point each. The total is 100 points and you need 90 to pass.

Do I get any points if one of the three statements is wrong?

No. An illustration question earns its 2 points only when all 3 statements are right. One wrong statement loses both points.

Is there a trick for guessing the answers?

There is no reliable trick. The dependable way is to find what is hidden, predict what others will do and apply the right rule. The number of true statements varies from question to question, so guessing by pattern usually fails.

Are there illustration questions in the Karimen or conversion tests?

No. Illustration questions appear only in the Honmen test. Karimen and licence conversion have true/false questions only.